Best Telescope Under $100 of 2024: Cheap but Great!

by Ali Ahsanul karim

Best Telescope Under $100 of 2024: Cheap but Great!

This informative article is for people that are in the marketplace for their very first telescope – but have simply an extremely small budget at their disposal. Some amateur astronomers will say spending $100 on a telescope is squandered cash, just since there isn’t any great telescope for this number.

Best Telescope Under $100

Telescopes can continue quite long if they’re handled nicely. Scopes that are used in many cases are accessible for half the cost of a brand new one and a lot of astronomers decide to purchase used, just since they need more: for the exact same cash that they get a telescope that is considerably better used, offering pictures that are better.

Great optics is not cheap, but not everybody has hundreds of dollars and there are really some adequate telescopes which don’t break the bank and are interesting. A tight budget should not prevent anyone to take up an avocation that is fascinating.

Well, don’t anticipate Hubble quality pictures with a telescope that is $100. Appropriate items for all these telescopes are a number of the brighter deep space objects, the bright planets Jupiter and Saturn, the moon, and stars.

For more recommendations on the best telescope under $500 for you, read our guide.

At A Glance: Our Top Picks for Best Telescope Under $100

If you’re in a hurry, you can jump straight into our top picks (these are the telescopes under 100 that most people buy).

Top 5 Best Telescope Under $100

Starting is the beginning of an interesting, really exciting and wonderful hobby. A straightforward 70mm or 80mm refractor on altazimuth mount may be the most suitable choice as beginner telescope for around $100. These telescopes are very simple to set up and easy to use – simply point and see the universe.

1. Best for Travel: Celestron 21035 70mm Travel Scope

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The Celestron 70mm Journey Scope is a great option of telescope for all those seeking an easy-to-use, mobile scope. The Travel Scope is an excellent option for intermediate astronomers appearing to refine their abilities and for the two beginners that want to start off their careers that are astronomic.

This telescope works great considering the truth that it’s an affordable, portable scope. It offers broad, clear views of the heavens that compare with versions that are a lot higher priced. The aperture will suit your needs given that it’s a mobile telescope, and performs surprisingly well given its size.

You will uncover this specific scope is ideal for starting astronomers who would like an easy-to-use mobile telescope. The Travel Scope is simple to use for beginners to get the hang of, but it is additionally a great telescope. more seasoned astronomers will even have the ability to make excellent utilization of its own characteristics.

Contemplating all that includes it, the Celestron 70mm is a remarkable worth. Coming in at the $60 range, it’s a great worth as a mobile telescope one that performs beyond its limit. The Travel Scope is readily the quality of a $200 telescope. Celestron has a reputation of building quality telescopes, and this scope is not inconsistent with this particular standing.

The portability and durability, as we have mentioned, also makes it an excellent option for families who might be looking to share the enjoyment the telescope provides. When it comes down to it, this really is an all around excellent choice for a portable telescope.

What do we like about it?

The Celestron 21035 is very easy to set up. This makes it very suitable for the beginners who are not familiar with the complex telescope set up process of high-end telescopes. All you need to do is to fix the tripod, attach the telescope with it and add the desired lens in it. This roughly takes one or two minutes and the telescope is ready to go.

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What else?

If you are a traveler, and looking for an easily portable telescope, then this is the one that you might be looking for. It is so compact that it can fit into a travel backpack easily. In fact, Celestron provides a backpack with it.

Therefore, if you love to view the sky from different parts of the world, this is the right telescope to have.

What don’t we like?

Celestron 21035 comes with an alt-azimuth mount, not equatorial mount. Therefore, viewing the deep sky object and photographing it becomes challenging. On the other hand, the tripod stands are flimsy. So, it is not a good fit for rough use.


2. Meade Instruments 209003 Infinity 70 AZ Refractor Telescope

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Perfect for the onlooker who sees both terrestrial and astronomical things, the Meade Infinity Series joins quality optics and an altazimuth mount for an outstanding value. For beginners and novices alike, these refracting telescopes are a good method for you to find the outside as well as the cosmos. You will find more with the Meade Infinity Series.

Meade Infinity 70 Altazimuth Refractor Telescope also includes all you should see the marvels of the nighttime skies the very first time outside. 70mm Refracting Telescope provides detailed and vivid pictures that’s ideal for seeing celestial objects and both property.

The Infinity 70 Refractor is an excellent telescope to begin in astronomy if you have never owned a telescope before. This 70mm aperture gives bright, sharp pictures for celestial objects and both property.

Whether you are seeing terrestrial things, rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, or the lunar craters, the Infinity 70 Refractor enables the first-time observer to learn more about beyond, and the world, solar system.

It features an altazimuth mount with slow motion control rod for tracking celestial objects as they go upon the nighttime skies. In addition, it comes with 2 eyepieces that offer high and low powered magnification for seeing an extensive variety of items.

What do we like about it?

The first thing that makes this telescope stand above the crowd is its magnification power. Even though it is an under hundred buck telescope, it has 140X magnification capability. Therefore, you can see more details of the celestial objects.

What else?

Apart from having a powerful magnification capability, this one also has a large aperture. With a 70 mm aperture, this one can gather more light. This helps greatly for astrophotography because the more light you can gather, the sharper and detail the photo will be.

What don’t we like?

Although the magnification and aperture of this telescope are very good, the mount and the tripod have some drawbacks. First of all, the tripod is flimsy. Secondly, due to the complexity of the mount, it is a bit hard to set up the telescope.

Overall, it is a fine telescope and a remarkable value for the astronomically. Highly Recommend!


3. Celestron 21037 PowerSeeker 70EQ Telescope

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The PowerSeeker 70EQ telescope from Celestron is an equatorial mount telescope made to supply clear, up close views of celestial objects for beginning astronomers.

The characteristics of the PowerSeeker reveal it to be a solid telescope for beginning and casual astronomers. Despite its low cost, the PowerSeeker offers specs that guarantee clear pictures and a great deal of magnification to be able to improve one’s view of the nighttime skies and belie this low cost.

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Its low cost along with superb optics, simple construction, clear directions, contained eyepieces and other characteristics which make it simple to utilize even for novices, make it a great option for anybody desiring to find out more regarding the nighttime skies or desiring to introduce their kids to astronomy.

Beginners do not need to sacrifice quality to get a reasonable and user friendly telescope. Instead, they are able to appreciate a scope that offers unbelievable views of the nighttime skies through the PowerSeeker from Celestron and that’s simple to set up, user friendly.

The many attributes of this scope work together to make it a fun and pleasing tool to utilize without costing too much to take pleasure in the nighttime skies.

What do we like about it?

Celestron 21037 PowerSeeker 70EQ lets you observe a wide range of celestial objects. For this, they provide two eyepieces, 20mm and 4mm. These two can give 35X and 175X magnification. Moreover, they have added a 3X Barlow lens which can triple the power of these eyepieces. Hence the final magnification will be 105X and 525X. Therefore, you can observe objects that are far with good details.

What else?

Celestron 21037 PowerSeeker also has a great aperture of 70mm. So, if you want to do astrophotography, this will be a good one. With more light gathered, you can have a sharp quality image. Also having an equatorial mount, it can keep itself aligned with the object which is very important for taking photographs.

What don’t we like?

After setup, the whole assembly doesn’t become rigid, rather flexible. Therefore, after alignment, if you give it a little shake, this will be dis-aligned with the object. This mainly happens due to the tripod. Although it is made of aluminum, it is not that rigid to give robust stability.


4. BARSKA Starwatcher 400x70mm Refractor Telescope

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The Barska 40070 Starwatcher Compact Refractor Telescope with Carrying Case and Table Top Tripod is a great telescope for the aspiring amateur astronomer.

It’s well suited for those interested in knowing more about the nighttime skies or students, the 70mm objective lens can zoom up to 300x power. Use one of the interchangeable eyepieces with a 3x power Barlow lens for increased viewing capacity.

A pan head tripod and mount is included with the telescope together with a convenient carrying case. Take this mobile telescope outside during the night along with the stars will open up before your eyes.

Then the BARSKA Starwatcher 400x70mm Refractor Telescope is perfect, as it will not cost too much, if you are buying training telescope to utilize while you learn a little astronomy. It’s the situation for a lot of parents upon learning of their children’s interest in astronomy they go out of their way to gratify the budding interest by buying needlessly complicated and expensive refractor telescopes. Read the Full Review

What do we like about it?

When you don’t want to break the bank for an entry-level telescope, this is the right option to choose. This is our first choice for a kid’s telescope because it offers a very reasonable price point while giving a good aperture and magnification.

What else?

This is an entry-level telescope, but it has a good theoretical magnification power of 300X. High magnification makes it possible to see the distant objects. On the other hand, this one also has a good aperture of 70mm for gathering more light.

What don’t we like?

Although the BARSKA Starwatcher 400x70mm is a decent entry-level telescope, we have encountered two major flaws. First of all, the tabletop tripod is cheaply built and the mount is fully made of plastic. This creates a problem when you want to align the telescope towards the object.

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Secondly, despite having a good magnification and aperture, this one doesn’t provide a clear and detailed image of the object because of the low-quality lens.


5. Celestron 21036 PowerSeeker 70AZ Telescope

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The Celestron 21036 uses a right picture prism so the pictures could be seen erect and comes with a 70mm refractor.

It includes a 4mm eyepiece which supply a magnification of 35 respectively and x as well as a 20mm and has really good optics. The PowerSeeker includes an Alt-Azimuth mount that’s easy and light to use.

While still supplying great optics the Celestron 21036 PowerSeeker is priced. The 20mm eyepiece works great. The 4mm eyepiece might be a bit strong for this particular telescope as the high magnification makes it a little difficult to concentrate on celestial objects correctly. All in all this is a great small telescope at a price that is wonderful.

Then attempt the Celestron 21036 PowerSeeker 70AZ Telescope if you are seeking an entry level telescope that is strong enough to view the craters of the moon as well as the planets in all their glory.

What do we like about it?

Just like other telescopes of the Celestron AZ series, this one is also super easy to set up. It doesn’t take that much time to set it up. Therefore, for amateur users, this one is very much suitable as they aren’t familiar with the complex set up process.

What else?

Along with good aperture and magnification, this telescope also weighs less, only 8 lbs. when assemble. Therefore, you can take it easily anywhere you like. This will be a major advantage if you are a traveler and want to observe the sky from different parts of the world.

What don’t we like?

One of the major drawbacks of the Celestron 21036 PowerSeeker 70AZ is it can’t track the object because it doesn’t come with an equatorial mount. So, if you want to do astrophotography, that is not possible.

If you want to find some good telescopes with an equatorial mount, check the list of my recommended telescopes under $200.

Again, the Barlow lens and the eyepiece are made of plastic which harms their durability and usability.

The FAQ for Best Telescope Under $100

What is a good cheap telescope?

The most inexpensive telescope in this list is the BARSKA Starwatcher 400x70mm Refractor Telescope. But we only suggest this one for kids. Because as an adult you won’t be satisfied with the built quality and also it is not that good for long term use.

Celestron 70mm Travel Scope Portable Refractor Telescope is a good fit for both travel and regular use while it offers a good price point and magnification. If you don’t have enough budget, we recommend this one.

All the telescopes that I have recommended there are capable of meeting all your needs as an amateur. However, if you want something more powerful and precise, you have to spend a little more. You can check my recommended telescopes under $300. These telescopes are designed to meet the requirements of a mid-level user.


Verdict

Don’t consider department store telescopes which come with a slew of bits, components and accessories, and guarantee magnifications of a whopping 500x or more. These things are often playthings. There’s nothing incorrect with playthings, but actually, do not anticipate continuing enjoyment and delight or clear pictures with those. What you are able to anticipate is subordinate optics lots of plastic components that can break shortly.

Ali Ahsanul karim

I'm Ali. BestTelescopeReview.com is my little place on the web to express what I've learned first-hand, specially about the telescope part. I am writing these articles to share my love for astronomy with you.